I've eaten countless pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, pizza, pasta, burgers, brats, donuts, and so on and so on... All stuff that is definitely not on my training diet, and I'm definitely feeling worse because of it. I'm 100% convinced at this point that I am a food addict. No joke. I have a food addiction.
On Monday, I started getting myself back on track though. I'm finally not feeling ravenous anymore and I'm back to good eating and to training. I'll be back into the swing of things in no time (I hope).
So, The North Fork 50 Mile Trail Race. With more than a week to reflect and research, what could I have done differently or done better?
#1 - Hydration - My symptoms (which I think started somewhere between 35 - 40 miles) were confusing to me. My pulse was normal, but my breathing was rapid and painful. I was dizzy and light-headed, but my mouth was not dry and I was sweating normally. I didn't have a headache. My fingers were swollen - which I thought was because of taking in too much salt (salt caps on the hours).
Even though I was taking in about 60 oz or so of either HEED or H2O between every aid station, I don't think it was enough. If I was taking in enough, then I would have been relieving myself regularly, and I think that would have controlled my salt and swelling. I thought that my difficult, and painful, breathing was a sign that I was retaining water in my lungs - and I might have been right - except that it was due to dehydration and not from taking in too much salt. Everything I've read in my research indicates that dehydration leads to water retention so that the body can protect itself. On www.waterbenefitshealth.com I found this statement: "Drinking water will increase urine production, and the excess salt retained in the tissues will gradually be removed through the urine. Thus, increasing your intake of clean drinking water is a high priority for eliminating water retention."
I'm 99.999% sure that my symptoms were all due to dehydration and maybe the early stages of heat exhaustion. I never suspected at the time that I had heat exhaustion because, even though it was a hot day, I was never suffering from the heat - I was never of the opinion of 'Holy crap -I'm dying from the heat.'
What I believe now, is that I should have been drinking even more from my CamelBak, basically completely draining all 70 oz by each and every aid station, and downing a couple of cups of HEED and coke with each stop too. And my salt - I think I'd dial that back a bit and take maybe a cap every two hours instead of every hour, and again, adjust as needed.
#2 - Fueling - Again, I'm scratching my head on this one a bit, but I don't feel it contributed nearly as much as my hydration issues. I started off fueling every 30 minutes, when in training I had done only 45 minutes. I thought that with all the race-specific variables (altitude, terrain, effort, etc.) that it would be a good idea to increase my fueling. I figured if I was over-fueling, that I'd just puke everything up - and a couple of times I thought I was going to.
I probably should have stayed with 45 minute fueling at the start and adjust accordingly - especially with the availability of the aid stations and all the goodies they provided. I did start adjusting my fueling, but then after time, I just totally let it slip and lost track of time and my schedule. At times I was probably fueling only every 75 or 90 minutes.
With the exception of my hydration and to a lesser extent my fueling, I'm pretty happy with how things went overall. My taper and lead-up training/rest was spot-on I think. My diet was good the week before the race, including pre-race morning nutrition. I didn't suffer from blisters, or chaffing, or sunburn. And despite the dizziness and fatigue, my legs were really pretty good. I never seemed to reach a point where my legs, or feet, ached and were outright crying like in my first 50 miler - The Bear Chase. And, I believe my pace and my strategy with walking/hiking/running were good too. I always tried to keep my HR at 160 or below, and my 2-2 breathing was steady (except during the rapid breathing / suffer-fest portions). Cadence and stride I was able to adjust and adapt well to terrain and grade.
Where to go from here? Well, I must have had a good time despite my struggles, because I've been combing the calendars for my next 50 miler, or 100k. I believe that with one more 50 mile or 100k run, I'll be ready to attempt a 100 miler. I want to do the Bear Chase 50 mile again at the end of September, but I'd really like to do something in early/mid August. Problem is - there is nothing near me that I have a shot at doing. Grand Mesa is at the end of July, but schedules won't allow it. So, I'll probably just have to wait. Right now, 50k's don't even look like they'll work for me.
Well, until I find something, or the Bear Chase comes around, I'll just keep at the training and good eating.
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